They opened spring drills at Virginia Tech last month, and all anyone could talk about was the 6-foot-6, 245-pound quarterback who could do things no one has ever done in Blacksburg, Va.

A player with the arm strength to make all the NFL throws. A player with the power and speed in the run game to give the Hokies a dangerous dual threat at a program with a history of star dual-threat quarterbacks.

He’s not the only one. Earlier this week, the Hokies completed their final scrimmage before Saturday’s spring game, and Thomas’ numbers continued to climb against a defense that should be one of the best in the nation this fall.

In two full scrimmages and three mini scrimmages, Thomas has completed 40-of-71 passes for 612 yards and four touchdowns — and only one interception. He has played so well, with so few flaws against defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s complex and confusing defenses, the natural question is, what’s next?

Tech senior wideout Jarrett Boykin has a pretty good idea, and he shared it with The Virginian-Pilot:

“One day I just sat back at practice and thought, wow, this is going to be a franchise quarterback for an NFL team some day.”

Instead, we’ll focus on the here and now: a season outlook that has suddenly gone from good to potentially great at Virginia Tech. It’s not like Tech knew from Day 1 what they had in Thomas, an elite quarterback recruit who signed three years ago expecting to play tight end or H-back.

On the first day of that fall camp, O’Cain saw Thomas throw and immediately asked if he would move to quarterback.

“I hated life for the first three weeks,” Thomas says.

O’Cain, though, knew what he had — and convinced coach Frank Beamer that Thomas had to stay at quarterback. Thomas redshirted in 2009, and was the team’s primary backup last fall.

Beamer then made a decision that could eventually become the turning point for this season. Prior to the start of spring drills, he elevated O’Cain’s duties from quarterbacks coach to play caller. Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring kept his title, but no longer will call plays.

Loyal to a fault, Beamer is now showing a new side in his pursuit of the one thing that has escaped his impressive run at Tech: a national championship. The movement of O’Cain to play caller was made specifically in conjunction with Taylor’s graduation and Thomas’ emergence.

O’Cain and Thomas are close — “He has done so much for me,” Thomas says – and that relationship was simply too critical to the development of the quarterback and the offense. So Stinespring cosmetically kept the title of offensive coordinator, but the offense will be run through O’Cain and Thomas.

“We’re trying to work on the little things that can lead to big things,” Thomas said.

It’s all about footwork and mechanics and knowledge of the system. It’s about where to throw and when not to, and when to take off and run and use a physical frame that will put defenses at a disadvantage (see: Newton). It’s all the things new quarterbacks must learn — and often struggle to comprehend.